


Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

by SpaceGoat



Series: Far Cry 5 Week 2019 [4]
Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn
Genre: Alternative Eulogies, Canonical Character Death, Drowning, Fire, Gen, Graphic Description of Corpses, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Songfic, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 06:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceGoat/pseuds/SpaceGoat
Summary: There are loved ones in the glory,Whose dear forms you often miss;When you close your earthly story,Will you join them in their bliss?The circle is forever broken. Joseph Seed and the faithful of Eden's Gate lead a procession through the night for The Soldier, The Siren and The Baptist, who are to be returned to the earth, laid to rest. And as he mourns, Joseph reflects on his fallen family. All that they were, all that they wanted, and all that they lost.One-shot written for FAR CRY 5 WEEK on Tumblr! DAY 6: Music





	Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

**Author's Note:**

> So, it's Day 6 of Far Cry 5 week! Ahahaha I did write a piece for Day 4 but was so unsatisfied with it, I chose not to share it, and I don't actually have a properly fleshed out Deputy OC to write about for Day 5 (although I can tell you I did name my Deputy Dorothy, but she was literally just a version of me who liked jumping off of tall things hahaha)
> 
> So here is something for the Soundtrack day... which is actually a piece I wrote a whole year ago! But hey, I never posted it and figured it's about time I got it out into the world hahahaha! The song is 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', and I specifically used the Bioshock Infinite version as reference. It's a song that I would have LOVED to have heard sung by Eden's Gate, or Joseph at some point in the game.
> 
> The song is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F1l6xXLSI0
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy and get ready for some ALTERNATIVE EULOGIES because those are always fun!

The ceasefire was fragile.

Undefined. 

No flag upon ramparts, or ink marked on a page. Just an agreement, whispered, gestured and silently promised, that a single night would be set apart for retrieval and burial of the dead. Sundown until sunrise. Not a shot to be fired, confession to be heard, building to be bombed, or heretic strung up. Just stillness and rest. A new Sabbath, of sorts. And for the people of Hope County who spent vast swathes of the day clinging to their lives, it seemed nothing short of a miracle.

It was on this night, on a dusty road through the dead farmland, that a procession of faithful came marching. Their faces were turned to the darkened sky. Eyes burning with sorrow, searing vibrantly like stardust. Alight with fury. Dampened with grief. And with their gaze, they spared no glance for the heretics who lined the path. No care for the vengeful, who bit their tongues and held in their spittle, and sought a glance of the dead to ease their blood lust. Not even a thought for the sinner who had taken so much, challenged their holy purpose. Given them this weight upon their shoulders.

The Father led with faltering step.

His eyes were hazy behind tinted glass. His fingers trembled. His scars, his _sins,_ seemed to burn. But his voice was resolute, the melody echoing through the dark:

> _There are loved ones in the glory,_  
_Whose dear forms you often miss;_  
_When you close your earthly story,_  
_Will you join them in their bliss? _

Carried aloft upon the faithful’s shoulders, upon beds made from velvet, slept the Heralds of Eden. Stilled into a long awaited peace, punctures incarnadine between their ribs a stark reminder of how they had suffered.

Each lay daubed in their own decay.

> _Will the circle be unbroken_  
_By and by, Lord, by and by._  
_There's a better home awaiting_  
_In the sky, Lord, in the sky. _

It was a song they had always known. 

And though it was his flock that called the hymn forth, Joseph could only hear Jacob's low timbre, humming it to ease him into sleep when the belt marks on his back cut too deep. After Old Mad Seed had bellowed Bible verses in his ears, and torn heathen drawings from where they were pinned proudly on the bedroom wall. On the school bus after another endless night hearing Mother scream.

Then slowly he heard his own voice, tinged with a weariness too antiquated for how young he had been. He heard it reverberate through the orphanage halls, the eve before John had been taken away. He'd stroked his brother's hair and caught his tears with his thumbs, and sang until the sun rose:

_In the joyous days of childhood,_  
_Oft they told of wondrous love,_  
_Pointed to the dying Saviour;_  
_Now they dwell with Him above. _

The lyrics had been worn down by their use when he had been alone. Comforting. Protective. Like an old pair of boots too reliable to cast aside, or a threadbare blanket that still smells of home.

Or the memory of a brother stood boldly in the fire’s glow.

“Jacob...”

Dog tags now around his own neck, metal scraping with every step.

A blood soaked rabbit’s foot.

_“You sought purpose. You were lost. I showed you who you once were, and opened your eyes to the Garden you were born to protect. And you cast aside your weakness- the weariness wrought deep within your soul by governments and generals who sought to use your compassion for their selfish ideals. You became strong, brother. You sheltered our Eden with a heart forged in battle. You asked nothing but brotherhood in return._ _You embraced your family with the strength of gods. And you carried that strength until the end.”_

The Soldier, freshly slain, lay proud, like a Viking martyr. Knife threaded between his fingers, the ancient burns that speckled him like rust on the armour he still seemed to bear. His Judges crowned the mountain ledges, howling to the night sky. In the torchlight, his fiery hair shimmered like copper wire; a fleeting glance might think it a halo encircling his skull. His mind, once full of the horrors of war, now quieted. His mouth, that knew the taste of man, free to taste the soil.

> _Will the circle be unbroken_  
_By and by, Lord, by and by._  
_There's a better home awaiting_  
_In the sky, Lord, in the sky. _

“Faith...”

He had yet to choose another.

None else had her heart, her spirit, her devotion.

“_There were some who thought you cruel. Calculating. Jezebel incarnate. They did not understand that you were a mother, and with the burden of motherhood comes a heavy hand. I chose you because you did not shy away from the lessons children must learn. You took the lost and gave them wings. You took the despairing and gave them hope. You took the sick of soul and gave them peace. You took the name of Seed and let it’s glory shine through you. Rest well, my sister. Sleep well, my Faith.”_

The Siren once wielded beauty. Now her face was swollen and pallid, bloated where the water had filled her pores and the creatures of the lake had begun to strip her skin away. Yet how sweetly she was scented by the flowers in her flaxen hair! It mingled with the fresh smell of the trees and the distant tang of smoke, heightened in the darkness, when the senses are keen. Even in death, she seduced onlookers with her song. A song composed of silence, of hope and dreams now lost, underscored with the cries of those who mourned.

> _You remember songs of heaven_  
_Which you sang with childish voice,_  
_Do you love the hymns they taught you,_  
_Or are songs of earth your choice? _
> 
> _Will the circle be unbroken_  
_By and by, Lord, by and by._  
_There's a better home awaiting_  
_In the sky, Lord, in the sky. _

“John...”

He’d finally reached the sky.

Feathered his wings.

Joseph’s heart was fracturing. Oh, the things he wished to say... 

_“I carry your sin upon my shoulder, that same shoulder three times you felt bitten by wrath. It is a sin of neglect. Neglect of your faith and your body, and by that, God, for we are made in his image. You saw a god every time you glanced in a mirror. A cruel world made you vain and selfish, and the child who had suffered so greatly thought you invincible. You drowned in your pride, as I drown in my regret that I could not save you. _I pray that you know my disappointment, John, and I beg mercy for your soul. In all my prayers, and my dreams of eternity together, _I ask only that God sees how very hard you tried.”_

The Baptist had rotted where he had fallen, swallowed by the damp earth. Shards of dirt had claimed the sorrows inked upon his flesh, the stories he’d wanted to the world to know. His palms were frayed by rope. His lungs were lined with lead. But now he lay in the starlight, arisen from nature’s oesophagus to be cleansed and laid to rest with honour. The bones of his collapsing face seemed testament to how he’d be forgotten. But oh, how they cried his name! A saint, redeemed. A sinner, saved.

> _You can picture happy gath'rings_  
_'Round the fireside long ago,_  
_And you think of tearful partings,_  
_When they left you here below._
> 
> _Will the circle be unbroken_  
_By and by, Lord, by and by._  
_There's a better home awaiting_  
_In the sky, Lord, in the sky. _

In the distance, he could see the pyres silhouetted by the moonlight. Though their bodies were cold, his Heralds would soon feel warmth again, and the embers that rose from the flames would carry their souls to the stars.

It would be a sight remembered for an age; the first flames of a Collapse long awaited. 

And soon, all would burn-

_\-------------------------------------------------------------_

Joseph’s eyes flickered open, and the fuchsia tinge of this new world’s morning mist settled into view. He sat lost in the blossoming forest, somewhere near the old compound. Sweet nectar scented the air. Damp grass and sodden earth cocooned his feet. He shivered slightly, his naked chest baptized by the dew.

Before him lay a single grave, shallow and solitary. Dirt was unceremoniously cast across it, and a rusted iron crucifix of Eden’s Gate, now New Eden, stood guard. 

No flowers. 

No velvet. 

No choir of lamenting brothers and sisters.

Not even their names.

His body had whined under the strain of shovelling. Age and years of almost starving had weakened his arms, but when the Judge had offered to accompany him, to put to rest the overwhelming guilt that had consumed them, and to move the dirt for him, he gently refused. He owed it to his family to do it himself. It had taken him days to hike across the county, alone with only his memories, to collect their remains. What little remained of them after all those years.

He had had not the strength, or enough of them left, to dig three. 

But they were reunited now, in eternal embrace. No ceremony. No procession. No pomp and martyrdom, as he had dreamed. Their resting place was the picture of modesty. Humility. A grave for the _truly _devoted. Their bones would turn to chalk and clay, and they would feed the insects and the reawakened soil. 

Watch the new Eden grow.

Someday he’d be buried there with them.

Together forever.

And he thought, as he rested beside them to finish their song:

**What more had they ever wanted?**

> _One by one their seats were emptied,_  
_One by one they went away;_  
_Now the family is parted,_  
_Will it be complete one day?_
> 
> _Will the circle be unbroken_  
_By and by, Lord, by and by._  
_There's a better home awaiting_  
_In the sky, Lord, in the sky. _

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little short one! Thank you so much for all the wonderful support I've had for these little one-shots! I've no doubt I may write some more in the future! Sorry about the weird lines at the side... I couldn't get rid of them for some reason???
> 
> And it'll now be back to my usual programming, with chapter 9 of Icarus and Styx coming very soon, followed by the final part of The Whore of Babylon... which, I admit, is still almost completely unwritten hahahaha! And when that's done... I'm working on a little something else in my mind that my amazing pal cannibal-cat on Tumblr suggested!
> 
> As usual, you can find me on Tumblr at unclefungusthegoat!
> 
> Take care,  
Chloe x


End file.
